In contemporary computer systems and networking, computer users view networks from the perspective of the network source, e.g., what the user needs to do to make a connection. For example, a host machine typically has one or more network interface cards (NICs), each of which provides a different type of connectivity corresponding to a network connection.
In general, each of these types of network connections provides its own user experience. For example, in Microsoft Corporation's Windows® XP operating system, there are separate user interfaces for remote access service (RAS) dial-up connections, RAS PPPoE (Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet) connections, RAS VPN (virtual private network) connections, RAS connection manger dial-up/VPN connections, wireless 802.11 connections, wireless wide area network connections (e.g., GSM/CDMA), Wi-Max 802.16 connections, and Bluetooth® personal area network connections. Moreover, the user typically had to go to different places to locate the user interface to connect to each one, and each user interface tended to work differently from the others.
As computing in general becomes more service oriented, the user's various network connections can be considered a service with a multitude of providers. Many users are confused and frustrated when dealing with network connections, because in general the current user interface model of having different user interfaces for different network connections does not match a service-oriented, network destination computing model.